The Ministry of Justice reports that judges who do not wish to be subject to lustration review cannot currently be dismissed. Tatyana Kozachenko, head of the Ministry of Justice's lustration department, noted that judges cannot be dismissed by any lustration body or the court itself. However, since judges are employees appointed by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, neither the lustration body nor the court itself can dismiss them. Kozachenko noted that only the High Council of Justice can dismiss a judge by submitting a corresponding petition to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
But, as is well known, the High Council of Justice has not been formed and is not functioning. Therefore, there is currently no constitutional body empowered to petition for the dismissal of judges. And since such a body does not exist, lustration of judges is impossible, concluded Justice Ministry official Tatyana Kozachenko.
We previously reported that 40 judges refused to undergo lustration review. As a reminder, Valentyna Symonenko, Chair of the Council of Judges of Ukraine, stated in a media interview that not a single judge has yet been dismissed in Ukraine as part of the lustration process. This is because, even if a decision to dismiss a judge has been made, the High Council of Justice is not operational. Symonenko also reported that in most courts, judicial review began on December 1 of last year. Currently, audits of judges' declarations and the compliance of their lifestyles with their income are ongoing. Until these audits are completed, it is impossible to say exactly how many judges will be subject to lustration under the "Law on the Purification of Government."
Subscribe to our channels in Telegram, Facebook, Twitter, VC — Only new faces from the section CRYPT!